Anti-Crime Computer

The Anti-Crime Computer is the core of law enforcement and peacekeeping in the Cosmic Era.

The Anti-Crime Computer is the central node of law enforcement and peacekeeping activities within almost any Federation megastructure, be it the ubiquitous arcology, seacology, or space habitat. This central intelligence coordinates a network of information gathering devices, data mining systems, and cadres of drones, wojeks, and organic assets.

Intel and Security

The Petroleum Era saw the birth of Social media technologies, and almost as quickly, the exploitation of social media as a way to monitor the 'Pulse of the Canaille. This tech would grow and be refined as that era rolled on, becoming central to the organization of grassroots movements, as well as a means of monitoring such movements. The Cosmic Era has seen both technologies explode, with social media being one of the pillars of the CogNet and with it's monitoring being instrumental in keeping the peace within the often tightly cloistered fortresses.

The Daily Discourse is one application of Social Media Intelligence Tech where opinions and outrage are directed by the intelligence powers, typically for the 'greater good' of a stable society. There are often ethical questions about the very nature of the Daily Discourse, and who makes the decisions behind it.

Of course, swaying popular opinion and guiding what is trending is a limited tool. This requires the populace to be involved, and to accept the discourse. The ancient philosopher Emile Durkheim postulated that crime and criminal behavior are inescapable facets of society, and that such behaviors serve a purpose within society itself. The importance was not to stamp out all crime, as such would ultimately undermine society, but to control it, and to prevent criminal behavior from becoming destabilizing or disruptive. Petty crime, and low level crime is preferable to serious level crime such as terrorism, murder, and large scale destruction of property.

The Anti-Crime Computer

The Anti-Crime Computer is, contrary to the name, not a mere computer. The system is typically a slaved L/ASIC to the core AISC of the megastructure, or a dedicated subroutine of the core computer sentience. The system monitors personal data devices like the near omnipresent MUSE handheld, cathex programs, personal and companion droids, social media accounts, and even biometric records as warranted. This wide net carries a stupendous amount of information, more than even a hyper intelligence sentient machine can handle. Instead of stalking every person under it's jurisdiction, the Anti-Crime computer uses learning search patterns, key word and phrase useage, and presets. These presets are built into subsystems like the multitude of smart devices around a house. When a person does or says something that triggers a preset condition, the system records it, and sends a ping to the anti-crime computer. Most people are well aware of this, meaning that planning things like murder, or committing crimes requires a Luddite avoidance and exclusion of technology.

The old operating systems of demi-sentient and clever machines dictated that a machine intelligence would not actively participate in an action it knew was a crime, it wouldn't function as a tattle-tale and inform law enforcement on it's owner, unless it involved a list of specific crimes. The Anti-Crime Computer circumvents this by simply ignoring the old rules. The old system ran on the idea that humanity was basically good, and the good machine would only become involved in the most heinous of crimes. The new system exists to not just apprehend criminals, but to predict crime, and thus prevent crimes from ever actually occuring.

No Harm, No Foul

The innate problem behind Predictive Law Enforcement is that in the absence of a crime, there cannot be a punishment. This was quickly identified as Thought Crime, and such a system could be highly disruptive, upsetting the canaille and fostering hostility to both the sitting government and against the Ordered Life Doctrine.

Option 3: Peacekeeping Officers - Organic assets (human trans-metro officers) become involved with the case, with the emphasis on keeping the peace.

Option 4: Law Enforcement - Wojeks (droid officers) become involved, with the intent of removing the disruptive individual or group.

Limitations

The data gathering and sifting potential of the Anti-Crime Computer allows it to function on an almost precognition level. The vast majority of potential criminal behavior is long before it happens, and the automated system engages to prevent it. This works the best in arcologies and space stations with tightly monitored conditions, and with a controlled population. In urban areas, and places where there is a regular flow of people and ideas, the system is less effective. Populations and individuals who are not keyed into social media systems, or lacking integrated devices like a MUSE are also much less trackable.

One of the major reasons for the security between the arcologies and the surrounding cities is the matter of the Anti-Crime Computer systems. Divorced from the system, people living in the urban sprawl introduce too many variables and chaos into the projections. Inside of habitats like arcologies, seacologies, and the like, the potential for criminal mischief to be critically dangerous is high. Despite security precautions, redundancies, and fail safe systems, it would only take a small number of people to cause a catastrophic event inside one of the enclosed residential megastructures. This level of risk is only considered manageable because of the function of the anti-crime computer system and related anthropotronics

Armored Police, Private Security, and Automatic Cops

Law enforcement has changed dramatically in the Cosmic Era, and the time of the cop walking his beat, or the cruiser rolling on a patrol are gone. The number of LEOs maintained far exceeds the number needed for the daily operations of a structure, with even the most progressive and liberal of arcologies maintaining a police force of security specialists, officers, and robotic units more suited to a maximum security prison. There are three reasons for this: appearances, emergency response, and DFEs.

For the purposes of appearances, the large and often highly visible police force deters impulse criminality, as well as projecting the authority and lawfulness of the location. These are not SWAT, Armored, or jetpack equipped officers, but officers who are running the now famous Mayberry Initiative. The friendly local authority figure, helpful, but unarmed, and non-violent, but capable of summoning armed and violent men and droids. These 'Mayberry' officers are posted to commercial sectors, the mass transit system, and are back up by surveillance systems and drones, but are as much human and public relations as they are anything else.

For the purpose of emergency response, fires, earthquakes, chemical spills, disease outbreaks, acts of terrorism, and so forth, the large police force, especially drones and wojeks are excellent at crisis management, working without tiring, or being overcome be emotion. The large number of units available means that a large crisis can be met with an equally large response force. This includes commandeering industrial equipment, and working with military assets in the area.

Several large arcoplexes and most space complexes have a number of Police Monitors. These ships are in many ways are a match for conventional frigates, except that their range is severely limited. The role of the Monitor is to provide rapid response inside an urban area, and provide logistical support where a military ship would not be the best option. The Gotham class is considered the paragon of police monitors. It carries a mobile HQ, 100 person capacity detention unit, space and gear for either 5 police companies, or an armored police platoon with vehicle support. The Gotham has a mobile CogNet node, direct access to the core Anti-Crime Computer, surveillance technology, and a run silent mode allowing it to go largely unnoticed, especially at night. On the downside, the ship has notoriously thin armor, is relatively slow compared to other frigates, and aside from mounting a number of crowd control weapons, largely unarmed.

Finally, in the rare instances of dimensional fatigue events, the presence of a large, rapidly mobile, moderately armed police force can contain bug hunts, mass hysteria, alien plagues, and the rest of the horror show that unfolds when reality collapses.

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Regions

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A man has been committed to an asylum for schizophrenia. The doctors are convinced that he is suffering from delusions and hallucinations. The reality: His soul has been split among three bodies, each in a different dimension, and he occasionally feels and sees what his other "selves" do.